Industry sources reveal that the prevailing slowdown of Egypt’s economy has resulted in a decrease in demand for cement, and a subsequent drop in cement prices, according to Al-Hayat daily.

Adel Al-Danaf, Chief Executive of the Egyptian Chemical Industries Holding Company, stated that several new cement-manufacturing factories were recently opened in Egypt. These factories, he said, expanded domestic cement output and added to the current predicament.

Presently, local cement markets suffer from excess supply, pushing down average prices by an additional by 15 percent during the first four months of 2001; this figure is compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. –(MENA Report)